Worldwide sales of "fixed" connected consumer electronics such as smart TVs, connected Blu-ray players, game consoles, and digital video media players will grow from 156 million in 2011 to more than 320 million in 2016. Regardless of whether Apple enters the smart TV market with its "iTV" product, gesture recognition and voice control will be defining features of the smart TV experience. Trends to watch in the smart TV space include interactive features between the TV and portable devices, automatic content recognition solutions, applications development, and the impact to all video delivery channels - pay TV, download, streaming, and broadcast.
Broadband households in North America and Europe own an average of 5.4 and 4.8 connectable devices, respectively. By 2016, ownership of these devices will almost double to 9.8 in North America and 9 in Europe. Increasing adoption of connected platforms capable of accessing this content online will fuel growth in digital media distribution in 2012. These devices include desktop computers, smart TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, laptops, netbooks, tablets, and smartphones. Each device category is at different stages of maturity, and penetration will follow a different growth rate, but overall, connected devices will more than double their presence among broadband households.
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